The communist government in China has many of the Chinese citizens convinced that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not controlling them. Some citizens believe that the CCP are honorable leaders, and the people who revolt against the government are foolish. In reality, the people who revolt are the heroes trying to save their country, and the leaders are corrupt, power-hungry, cruel people. The real hero does not always get the acknowledgement he deserves; sometimes the nemesis is mistakenly believed to be the hero. In The Iliad, Achilles and Hector are sometimes confused by the readers as to who the hero really is. The Iliad is an epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and many conflicts within it. In this poem, The Iliad, Homer …show more content…
Steve Coates’ article quotes Alexander, he says, “Achilles is at once a star-like demigod and a raging monster” (Coates). Alexander suggests that looks may be deceiving, but it is on the inside that really counts. Achilles appears to be a great demigod, but on the inside he is an inhumanly cruel person. Achilles is an eristic man; he refuses Hector’s wish in honoring his body and giving it back to his family if he is killed in battle. The narrator says, “But it was shame and defilement Achilles had in mind for Hector” (xxii. 438-439). By the narrator saying this, it briefly foreshadows what repugnant actions the next few lines will hold. Because of the way the narrator arranges these words, it seems as though Achilles plots to ruin Hector’s body so that it cannot be returned to his family. “He pierced the tendons above the heels and cinched them with leather thongs to his chariot, letting Hector’s head drag” (xxii. 439-441). Homer paints this horrendous picture of Hector being dragged by a chariot. This is a very disturbing thing for Achilles to do, and since he shows no regret, it confirms that he has no conscience or remorse for what he did. Phoebus Apollo, a Greek god, even says Achilles is an unpleasant and awful man. Phoebus …show more content…
A hero is not always the person who is powerful or has divine qualities but is someone who is admired for courage, noble qualities, and who is honorable or virtuous. They are driven because they know fighting for their cause is the right thing to do. In many instances, the true honorable hero is imperceptible at first, but is later found to have been there the whole time. Honor is high respect which cannot be received just by being powerful; honor can only be presented to those who have a true virtuous conscience. Just like the Communist government in China, many of the Chinese citizens do not realize that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is corrupt, but, the citizens will later find out that they were oblivious to those people who truly had righteous intentions for
Ever since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the legitimacy of the revolution of which it was built upon has perennially been in question. For example, in a 1999 issue of the International Herald Tribune, a prestigious scholar claimed that all of China’s tragedies are ‘sustained by a mistaken belief in the correctness of the 1949 revolution’ and that the future progress of China depends on the recognition that the revolution was a failure. However, the CCP government was certainly not perfect and its most significant failures were its political failures such as the Anti-rightist movement and the Cultural Revolution and also economic failures such as the great leap forward. Millions of peoples were falsely accused and persecuted during the political movements of the Mao period as the CCP focused on class struggle instead of economic development during the period and tens of Millions of peoples died due to starvation as there were widespread food shortages during the great leap forward movement.
...as experienced in the novel. They often encounter external pressures that society imposes on them and if they choose not to comply, they are subject to the consequences of individualism. The laws of New China are underlying and not clearly expressed; however, there is a sense of societal acceptance for the ethical construct of these new protocols. The power held by the party is depicted in the characters’ decisions to go against their innate wants and conform to what is regarded as the correct behavior. Their fates become jeopardized, which stimulates their shifts in action. In conclusion, Jin’s novel highlights the influence of communism and how many people are not able to live freely, being that they reside in a society under the surveillance of the party’s enforcers and have no other choice but to respect the status quo.
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
The Homeric Ideal is a prevalent theme throughout Greek literature as demonstrated by Achilles and Hector in Homer’s The Iliad. These characters are the very definition of the Homeric Ideal because they exemplify the ideal’s true meaning of acting in a manner by which the potential of a person is reached. To extrapolate, a character’s potential is reached through proficiency and confidence in their actions. Furthermore, the Homeric Ideal also incorporates the idea of mutual respect, best demonstrated through impartial interactions between characters.
The question "was Achilles' anger justified" brings up issues that seem to have little or no relevance to the war. In time of war I would expect the leaders to prioritize the groups interest for the sake of unity and cooperation rather than being entrenched in achieving their own personal goals. But my expectations are those of a modern day literature student, I'm inclined to think that the Greeks who first read this epic valued different things than myself. Another relevant question might be "were Achilles' actions justified". Anger can be easily justified, but the actions that anger might lead you to take are not as easily justified. Again I am not an ancient Greek and my opinions are irrelevant unless I open my mind to different viewpoints. Therefore I am striving to look into this issue through ancient Greek eyes where the principle of sacrificing ones own interests was apparently not valued, but maintaining ones honor, on the other hand, was greatly valued. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to answer these two aforementioned questions.
Throughout the Iliad, heroic characters make decisions based on a specific set of principles, which are referred to as the “code of honor.” The heroic code that Homer presents to readers is easy to recognize because the heroic code is the cause for many of the events that take place, but many of the characters have different perceptions of how highly the code should be regarded. Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, begins the poem as a model for a hero. His dedication and firm belief in the code of honor is described many times throughout the course of the Iliad. As a reward for heroic traits in battle, prizes were sometimes awarded to victors of war. In Book 1 Achilles receives Chryseis as a prize and a symbol of honor. Heroism had its rewards and its setbacks which ultimately was the backbone of the Illiad in the case of Achilles prize. Hector, arguably the greatest Trojan warrior or even the bravest of the Homeric heroes is very fierce and fights for what he believes is his destiny. In book VI Hector expresses his bravery when Andromache pleads with Hector not to fight when Hector says, “But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan woman trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the sprit urge me on that way. I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself” (VI, 387).
“ My Hector. It is for him I have come to the Greek ships, to get him back from you. I’ve brought a fortune in ransom. Respect the gods, Achilles. Think of your own father, and pity me. I am more pitiable. I have born what no man who has walked this earth has ever yet borne. I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son” ( Book 2...
In the introduction of the Essential Illiad given by Sheila Murnaghan, Achilles is labeled as “the greatest of the Greek heroes”. In classic mythology a hero is a person of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits and is often the offspring of a mortal and a god. Achilles was the greatest fighter among the Greeks or Trojans and feared no man in battle. He was also the offspring of a mortal and a god so by classic mythology definition, Achilles was indeed a hero. A hero is defined by the present day Websters Dictionary as: “one who inspires through manners and actions; an individual who leads through personal example and accomplishments requiring bravery, skill, determination, and other admirable qualities.” Achilles, in no manner, fits this definition. By contemporary standards, he is instead a pathetic villain. Aside from being a kidnapper, rapist and murderer, Achilles proves to be emotionally weak, selfish, and malicious. Many times throughout the Illiad, Achilles is also referred to as “godlike”. The gods of Greek mythology were subject to the same emotions and character flaws as humans, and though privileged to some foresight, the gods had similar mental capacities as humans. What really set the gods apart were their powers (controlling the elements, changing their appearance, etc.), great strength, and immortality. Because of his great strength and apparent invincibility, it is easy to see why Achilles would...
Phoenix’s paradigm narrative fails to persuade Achilles to rejoin the war because the specifics of that narrative, his choice of myth, and his botched retelling of it fail to connect with Achilles' specific concerns.
The role of a hero in Greek literature was a very important role. To be considered a hero in this type of writing, the character must fit into the traits of a hero which included noble lineage, travel to vast settings, exhibit beyond human qualities, show nationalism and pride, be an excellent warrior and finally, show humility and pride. The Iliad shows many examples of epic heroes , including the characters, Hector and Achilles. The Iliad is a story set many years ago during the Trojan war, which was between the Greek army and the people of Troy. Achilles and Hector fit the roles as epic heroes because they exhibit the specific characteristics, even though Achilles may be hard to be viewed as one, both Hector and Achilles’ are viewed
Hector is the true hero of Homer's Iliad. Although Achilles and Hector are both leaders of men, Hector leads with a mature sense that gives his men reason to respect him. In turn, Hector respects his men which gives fulfillment to both parties. Hector is not a man to sit around and mull over strategies and ideas - Hector is a man of action. His men are inspired to fight because they see their captain fighting as well.
After that part, Achilles shows vengeance when he talks about how he wants to kill Hector. 'I will not live nor go about mankind unless Hector fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patroclus, son of Mencetius.';
In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.